ADDIS ABEBA (ETHIOPIA) -
Circular letter from June 2008
Blind students of the GCS are the best!
Building sites are rare
Our school expansion plans are now with the city administration. They need to find a new location for our current neighbors, an assistance organization for blind people. Since this organization is also planning to expand (and since their recent habit of using a circular buzz saw distinctly interferes with instruction at GCS), we are hoping for a good solution. However, it won't be easy for the city administration to find a good location for them in this rapidly growing city.
Addis is changing on an almost daily basis. Skyscrapers shoot from the ground like mushrooms, streets are being expanded everywhere. Many shantytowns are being razed to the ground; the former residents have to move and get pushed to the city limits.
Dürrekatastrophe - 6.000.000 Kinder betroffen
As a consequence, we sometimes don't know whether to keep your goods donations here in Addis, or to immediately forward them to those regions that are in much worse shape than we are. On our school and church compound, we're actually still doing comparatively well. While the diesel generator grinds on our ears 14 hours a day every second day by now (every time the city cuts power in our area), we are dependent on the electricity to enable our office work and evening classes. Nevertheless, at least we have power, as well as full water tanks, while most people around us often have to go without both for days on end.
Nevertheless - there's a point of light!
Please accept our heartfelt greetings and may God's peace be with you.
Ato Teklu Tafesse, Principal and ![Mikias [right] with his friends](rb608_5.jpg "Mikias [right] with his friends")
Mikias is 11 years old; he's in 4th grade. Like all of his classmates, he comes from a very poor family. Mikias is a very ambitious student; he also loves playing football. One needs a good second look before noticing... Mikias is blind. A few weeks ago, a TV-team accompanied Mikias on his way home. The TV producers were surprised at Mikias' self-confidence in moving about. No trace of self-pity, just a sense of purpose, and plenty of plans for the future: when Mikias grows up, he wants to be a lawyer. All of us are sure he'll make it. Mikias is one of 50 young people that either study together with their seeing friends at the German Church School (GCS), or that have gone on to higher studies with continuing GCS support.
The academic year is nearing its end, so it's time for a year-end greeting to all of you from Addis. Our student girls and boys are all working hard to improve their year-end results. As already mentioned, this is particularly true for our blind and visually impaired students. Two weeks ago, some of them participated in a national competition in Mekele (700 km north of Addis). They took first place (nationally) in both the team and individual competitions. Such results don't just make the students proud, but also their teachers. One female teacher and five male teachers work together in our integration program. They regularly participate in professional development programs, and spend a lot of time on the targeted promotion of blind students.
As we already reported, we have big plans for the future. Due to the lack of teaching space, we still have to teach in two shifts (if you count evening classes for adults, it's actually three shifts).
Our plan is to convert GCS into a full-day school as soon as possible. For one, this follows an Ethiopian Education Ministry directive for all Ethiopian schools. However, more importantly, a full-day curriculum will offer the children and young people an enormous opportunity. Teaching time can be expanded, and the students can spend more of their free time on campus. Most of them don't even have a table to do homework in their shanty homes; many times, their dark abodes don't offer light either.
On the other hand, the number of street kids in the inner city has been rising, particularly in the past few weeks.
The failure of the so-called "Belg" rains (the "small rains"), has led to a terrible drought, especially in the south of Ethiopia. On the heels of the drought, hunger and disease are now threatening the country, made worse by drastically higher food costs. Two weeks ago, the UN published an alarming report stating that 6 million children will be affected in Ethiopia alone. For the first time, this approaching disaster is also being mentioned in Ethiopian newspapers.
Ethiopia and its donors have made huge efforts in the past few years to reduce child mortality and to stabilize the food supply. However, with a yearly population growth of 2 million people, it is an almost hopeless task. Given the dimensions of the problem, our school project is of course very small.
And yet...it's a point of light. It helps many families in this area with the absolute basics; most importantly, it gives the children a chance to improve their future. So we thank you for your help and sustained support. Please let us know if your address changes. We also ask new donors and donor groups to provide their complete address when doing a bank transfer. This will really make our administrative work a lot easier.
Martin Gossens, Pastor
